Prince and The Revolution “Purple Rain”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#342 in the Series) is Prince, Purple Rain.
I was on the Prince bandwagon very early. I had the first two albums and was a huge fan of his third, Dirty Mind and it’s follow up, Controversy. I had the chance to see him at the tiny Park West Theater in Chicago in 1980. One of the best shows I ever saw. 
It was 1999 and then Purple Rain that made him a household name. The movie and the album were monster hits. Purple Rain sold 13 million units. The movie grossed over 80 million back in 1984.
Singles? You ask? The first release was “I Would Die 4U.” It peaked at #8. Then the real fun started. The second single, “Let’s Go Crazy” hit #1. The third single, “Purple Rain” only made it to #2 but then the follow up “When Doves Cry” did reclaim the #1 spot.
Grammys you ask? Yeah, it won a few. The album won for Best Instrumental Composition Written Specifically For A Motion Picture or for Television (Awarded to writers, Prince Rogers Nelson, Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin, John L. Nelson.) It also won for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. If you’re wondering who the big winners were that year? They were Tina Turner and Lionel Ritchie.
More accolades? Rolling Stone Magazine called it the second best album of the 80s. It also listed Purple Rain as the 72nd best album of all time. Vanity Fair called it the best soundtrack of all time. VH1 tabbed it the 18th best album of all time. The 1000th issue of Entertainment Weekly listed Purple Rain at #1 on their list of the top 100 best albums of the past 25 years. I guess that made it official.
We also must not forget “That’s Not Lake Minnetonka”
Track listing
All songs composed and arranged by Prince; except “Computer Blue”, words by Prince music by Prince, John L. Nelson, Wendy & Lisa, and Dr. Fink.
Side one
- “Let’s Go Crazy” – 4:39
- “Take Me with U” – 3:54
- “The Beautiful Ones” – 5:13
- “Computer Blue” – 3:59
- “Darling Nikki” – 4:14
Side two
- “When Doves Cry” – 5:54
- “I Would Die 4 U” – 2:49
- “Baby I’m a Star” – 4:24
- “Purple Rain” – 8:41
Personnel
- Prince: Guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, piano, drums, drum programming, lead and background vocals
- Brown Mark: Bass guitar, vocals
- Lisa Coleman: Keyboards, piano, sitar, vocals
- Wendy Melvoin: Guitars, vocals
- Dr. Fink: Keyboards, organ, vocals
- Bobby Z.: Drums, percussion
- Apollonia Kotero: Vocals on “Take Me with U”
- David Coleman: Violin
- Suzie Katayama: Violin, viola
Links
Back to the Cool Album of the Day Home Page
Looks like you missed “The Beautiful Ones” on the track listing.
It’s there….